This invention relates to real-time digital image generation of a gaming area as viewed from a maneuverable viewpoint, and more particularly to such image generation of directional point structures displayed as points of light.
Heretofore, digital image generation (DIG) has been used in architecture and mathematics to display three-dimensional objects. The viewer could maneuver the display to obtain different perspective views, helpful in building the objects or understanding the relationship between parts thereof. However, these systems were basically nondynamic and lacked the realism of real-time maneuvering.
Directional points in these systems have been processed by software. They were treated as separate light for each distinguishable orientation and color. Airport centerline lights are visible in red or green depending on the direction of the approaching aircraft. These lights were software processed as two lights occupying the same position: one red and black light, and one black and green light. For a string of similarly colored lights, the software would compute the relative position of the pilot to the light string and from this divide the light string into two separate strings, of different color, if the relative position required that two colors be presented.